


A different life

by karanathefirebender



Series: A different life 'verse [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dead Characters are Alive, F/M, Other, Sirius Black Lives, Sirius has family, Surprise character appears
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-22
Updated: 2016-05-25
Packaged: 2018-06-10 00:10:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6929998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karanathefirebender/pseuds/karanathefirebender
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sirius Black has everything. A loving wife, he would be father of two kids soon and he had the best friends anyone could ask for. Until he gets accused of betraying the Potters. He flees with his family away from London to an old farmhouse in the mountains. Now the family has to live in hiding   from the ministry, or risk being discovered.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The flight

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter; it all belongs to J. K Rowling. I only own my Oc characters.
> 
> Betaread by: MagicFireTiger

Sirius Black had everything: a loving wife, perfect, loyal friends, and he even had a child on the way. Shortly said, he had the perfect life until one particular day that would change his life forever.

......

Sirius's POV:

I hummed quietly to the sound of an old song playing in the radio while decorating the room for my first child together with my wife, Cassiopeija. My first child. It still sounded too good to be true sometimes. Growing up at this horrendous house called Number 12, Grimauld Place, I never imagined having a great life like this. But now my life was perfect; soon my first child would be born, and the best part about that was that my child would grow up together with James Potter's child. Secretly, James and I both hoped that our children would be boys so that we could pass on the legacy of the marauders to them.

Today was the 30th of June, and little did I know that James's and my plan would never come to reality—because in one year, four months, and one day, my now perfect life and that of my future family would come to an end by a terrible betrayal.

One month later:

Today was July the 31st, and my wife and I couldn't be happier. Today our new little baby boy was born, and this was the funny thing about today: today was also the birth day of James's son, Harry. A few days later, and after Lily and Cassiopeija were calmed down enough from the exhaustion of birth, our two little families had a small party. All of our friends were invited: Moony, Wormtail, and a few other members of the Order who we trusted.

"To Harry James, son of James and Lily, and to Regulus Leonis, son of Sirius and Cassiopeija," said Remus, lifting his glass up in the air.

"To Harry and Regulus Leonis," repeated everyone in the room, lifting their glasses. The party was going well. All of my friends were talking and laughing and having a good time. If I had just known back then that one of them was a cold blooded betrayer, everything would have gone so differently.

"Sirius, can we talk to you for a second?" asked Lily, James standing behind her.

"Of course. Let's go into another room where it's a little bit quieter," I replied, leading them into a small room. "So what is it? If it's about being Secret-Keeper for your home again, then you know my answer. You know I can't do this," I told them. Back then, not being the Secret-Keeper and leaving it to Petegrew seemed like the best choice, but today I would do anything to make this decision undone.

"Actually, it's about something different, you see; we waited until now to ask you this because we feared that you would say no, but..." began Lily, but was quickly but was quickly interupted by James.

"We wanted to ask you if you if you want to be Harry's godfather."

I took my time to think, and then I spoke up. "Lily, James, as your best friend, it would be my honor to be Harry's godfather, but only under one condition." I paused, looking at James's and Lily's confused looking faces. I took in a large breath of air and finished my sentence. "If you, James, agree to be Regulus's godfather."

James looked at me, and then he began to laugh. "Of course, Padfoot, old friend. I will be your son's godfather no matter what happens," he said, clasping me on my shoulder.

The following months passed by in a blur. Harry and Regulus were growing really fast, and soon both kids began to crawl around the houses and explore everything. James and Lily often came by for a visit with Harry. Now, Harry and Regulus were really exhausting to deal with when they were alone, but when they were together, they were almost unstoppable. They both caused trouble everywhere they crawled. They were like James and me in mini versions.

On a rainy afternoon in April we all sat together in our living room, while Harry and Regulus were playing at our feet.

"Seriously, sometimes I don't know what to do with Harry. He can be so cute when he sleeps, but when he's awake he crawls around everywhere and causes trouble. This Monday he accidently knocked down a vase. I mean, it wasn't really precious, but still, he could have hurt himself. I'm worried that this boy will grow up with such a wild and untamable energy that he will get hurt or hurt others," sighed Lily, rubbing her temples, her hair framing her face in curtains of dark red.

"Well, you know who his father is. You'll see, he'll get even more energetic when he can run around," I stated with an amused smile.

"Well, I hope at least Regulus doesn't turn out like you. If those two really will be friends growing up, then one of them should be at least a little bit normal," said Cassiopeja.

"Well, I think your wish probably won't come true. You know how boys get over time," said Lily with another sigh.

"Speaking of time, hunny, I think that it's time to leave. It's getting late and Harry needs to go to bed at five or he gets really uncomfortable," said James.

"Right. Harry, come on, sweetheart. Time to go home," said Lily, going to Harry and picking him up.

"Thanks for the invitation, Sirius, Cassiopeija. I hope we will see you soon. Goodbye!" said James.

After everyone had said their goodbyes and James and Lily were gone, Cassiopeija sat down, rubbing her tummy with a slightly pained look on her face.

"Honey, is everything all right? Did you eat something bad?" I asked her worriedly.

She shook her head and mumbled, "No, everything's all right I'm just exhausted, that's all. I'm going upstairs to lie down for a while. Could you please look after Regulus while I take a nap?" I nodded and my wife went upstairs into our bedroom.

I really hoped that she didn't have anything bad, like one of those terrible sicknesses that some people get to their stomachs. Luckily, it turned out to be something absolutely harmless. It was something that made my wife and me really happy, as a matter of fact. It turned out that Cassiopeija was expecting another child! Soon our small family of three would be a family of four. Now my lucky, happy life couldn't get any better.

We delivered the news to James and Lily immediately at the birthday party of our sons. Both of them were so happy for us. We celebrated a long time, both the birthdays of our sons and the pregnancy of my wife. Everyone was so happy. I hadn't thought that this would have been the last time I would ever see James and Lily alive.

......

Cassiopeija 's Pov:

Today was October 31st, and my husband Sirius and I had decorated our house for Halloween. Sure, it was a tradition of the Muggles, but back home in Austria, I loved to go trick or treating with my sister and friends and I always had my house decorated. So Sirius and I decided to keep this tradition. Of course, Regulus was still too young, being one year and three months old, to go trick-or-treating, but Sirius and I still decided to buy him a wizard costume. I looked around. Our house looked perfectly creepy. Three pumpkins with scary faces were standing outside our door, and small owls and witches made out of paper were hanging in our windows. We also had sweets in case any children would be coming to our house.

I really hoped that we could have a nice and peaceful day like always, but what happened tonight was going to change our lives forever. It was late in the night and Regulus and I were already asleep. Sirius had gone out for a ride with his motorbike. 

Suddenly, someone burst into my room, screaming, "Quick, get up and grab Regulus, we need to get out of here!" I rubbed my eyes sleepily. It took me a while to recognize that it was Sirius who just burst into our room in the middle of the night.

"Honey, what's wrong?" I asked, seeing that he was throwing some stuff into a small package.

"Here," he said, handing me a basket just big enough for a one-year-old to fit into. "Put Regulus in there and make sure he 's secure and safe. We have to get out of here as soon as possible. I will explain everything later. When you're finished, come to the backyard."

I did as he told me, and just as I arrived outside, there was a banging on the door and a loud voice said, "This is the Ministry. Open up. We know that you're home."

"Oh, no, they found me," mumbled Sirius. "Quick, turn into an eagle and take Regulus and fly away!" he shouted at me.

I nodded and turned into my Animagus form, a big eagle. I grabbed the basket with our son with my claws and flew away. Under my wings, I could see Sirius running away in his dog form with the package from earlier in his teeth. We flew and ran for hours—at least, it seemed to me like that. Then we finally arrived in at a small, run-down building. It was full of vines and looked like it would collapse soon. But since we were on the run from the Ministry of Magic (apparently), it would do to hide for a while. We both turned back into our human forms and made ourselves as comfortable as possible. Luckily, there was one old bed and a few other objects in the rooms, so getting comfortable wasn't very hard. I sighed as I started to fall asleep. 'I hope Sirius has a really good explanation for all of this tomorrow morning,' I thought.


	2. A new Life

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So this is part 2 of my story "A Different Life." Hope you enjoy it!

Cassiopeija's Pov:

When I woke up in the morning I was really confused. 'Where am I?' I wondered. This place looked strange; I wasn't in our home near London. The place where I was seemed strange and looked rundown. Whoever owned the place hadn't taken care of it very well, or was long dead.

Still a little confused, I looked around. When my eyes caught the familiar form of my husband, who seemed to be awake, all my memories came rushing back to me. Our escape last night and how we landed here. Speaking of our escape, Sirius still owed me an explanation for what happened last night.

"Morning, sweetie," his voice greeted me.

"Morning," I replied, looking at him. "So, how about an explanation for last night?"

"You mean the whole running away thing? Well, as you know, I was going to visit James and Lily last night," he began. And then he told me the story of how he had Apparated into Godric's Hollow, down the street from their cottage, and heard the sound of a small explosion…. I seemed to walk with him up to the house…. I saw the house with him as he described the familiar home, almost completely destroyed, the roof caving into the top floor. In my mind, I crept into the cottage, feeling a sense of foreboding even though he was only telling me the story, and I hadn't been there myself...

Sirius told me of how he had seen James, his best friend, lying dead upon the floor in the front hallway to the house, eyes opened wide and lifeless. I closed my eyes as tears came and my husband continued the story. He told me of how he had bent down and gently closed them, and then of standing back up to continue through the house.

He had stepped into the living room, seeing his best friend's wand lying on the sofa, wondering why he had left it there, before stepping up the stairs, knowing what he would see next and dreading it. Sirius told me of how he had seen the door at the end of the hallway in the top floor opened a crack, light flooding from it into the dark hallway. He had opened it with a creek, and stepped into the room, opening his eyes without realizing he had closed them.

And then, I seemed to look through Sirius's eyes as he told me of how he had seen Lily, dark red hair spread out around her head, lying on the ground in front of Harry's crib, dead. The room had been a mess, Sirius told me, with boxes and a chair on the ground beside the door. The only thing that had been left untouched was a small toy owl, white with black specks on it, hanging from the ceiling. Sirius told me of how he had gone over to the crib. Harry was sitting there, in his favorite blue pajamas, tears streaming down his face, a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt now on his head.

I seemed to bend down to stroke his head, to pick him up, to comfort him—or in reality, to comfort myself, with Sirius. But then, my eyes still closed, I heard the sound of heavy boots thumping across the floor and turned around with him. I stepped away from Harry's crib, ready to take on even Voldemort, and in my mind, I saw, with relief, that it was Hagrid.

Sirius said that Hagrid had told him that Dumbledore had ordered him to take Harry. Hagrid was howling with grief and seemed barely able to talk at all, but he managed to stumble something about bringing Harry to his aunt.. He had thought of refusing, and began to, but Hagrid had then told me it was to protect Harry. So then, knowing that this was what had to be done, he had gently lifted Harry out of his crib and after a moment of staring at that innocent face—he had stopped crying sometime after Hagrid had entered—Sirius set him gently into Hagrid's arms. Then he had offered him Sirius's motorbike to use to get to his destination faster, and he accepted and left.

My husband told me of how he had then left the house himself, and then, upon realizing that there was only one person who could have done this to Lily and James, he had done everything in his power to find Peter Pettigrew. But then he told me that he regretted this more than he could say. Because he had found him in a large, quite inhabited street, full of Muggles. Peter had yelled to the whole street that Sirius had killed Lily and James before, in one smooth moment, with his wand behind his back, had blown apart the street, killing everyone within twenty feet of himself, cutting off a finger, and then run off, as a rat, with his fellows….

"I was going to follow after him, but then I noticed the air around me had gotten very cold," Sirius continued. "I knew someone—maybe Hagrid—had called the Ministry and now they were coming for me with their dementors. I Apparated home as quickly as I could, and then… you know the rest," he finished.

I gasped, fighting the tears that were threatening to pour out of my eyes. James and Lily were dead? I couldn't belive it, I didn't want to believe it. Lily had been my first friend when I moved to England, and now she was gone, and little Harry, losing his parents at such a young age….

Sirius hugged me tight and I buried my face in his chest. Feeling safe and secure in his embrace, I finally let go of the tears.

I don't know how long I cried, but after a long time, I finally ran out of tears. I broke free of Sirius embrace and said, "Come on, let's go and look for something to eat. I'm starving." I grabbed his hand, and we stood up from the bed. At first we checked if Regulus was all right. He was still sleeping, which was good, because we could go into the house's garden and check for berries or wild growing vegetables without having to be there for our son.

We were lucky. We managed to find a few wild raspberries and strawberries. We also found some wild-growing carrots.

"This won't be enough. I'm going to check if there is any village near here. I'll take Regulus with me," I said after finishing our search for food.

"Good idea. I'll go to the forests and mountains near here to hunt food," Sirius replied.

Luckily, I really was able to find a village, flying overhead, making sure to keep my home just in sight. It was small, so you could easily overlook it if you didn't look closely enough, and it sat between a few high hills filled with forests. Landing a bit outside of town, I turned back into my human form. I took Regulus out of the basket I had carried him in and took him in my arms. With Regulus in one arm and the basket on the other, I began walking towards the village. "Welcome to Forrest Hills" read a sign at the entrance of the village.

I searched for a store that sold food, and hopefully at a cheap price; on our flight yesterday, Sirius and I managed to grab only a small amount of money. After a few minutes of searching, I finally found one. When I entered, an old woman greeted me and asked me what I wanted to have. She explained that not many people came here since it's such a small, deeply hidden village. She also wanted to know where I came from. At first I hesitated to tell her, but then, seeing that she was so nice I decided that I could tell her. Of course, I didn't tell her the whole truth; I just said that my husband and I had bought an old house not far from the village.

The old woman, whose name was Ms. Morin, gave me everything I needed and wished me good luck in renovating our new home. Deciding that I had everything that I needed, I walked out of the village. Luckily, the old woman in the store had given me everything I needed in a cloth bag, so I could put Regulus in the basket and carry it with one claw and carry everything I bought in the other.

When I came home, Sirius was sitting in the kit chen, looking like he was deep in thought. "Hey, Sirius," I greeted him. "What are you doing?"

"Oh. Hi, Cass. I was just thinking. While you were away I found an old car in the shack next to the house. It's really old, but I should be able to repair it. I just don't know how," he replied.

"I'm sure you will find a way, maybe we could ask someone from the village. They all look very helpful and nice. I'm sure no one's a wizard there. And it's so well hidden that the Ministry won't find it," I suggested.

"We could try. I just hope that you're right and there is really no one to tell us off to the Ministry," Sirius said gravely.

He sighed. I could tell that he was worried. He was probably thinking about how long we could survive and live like this. The whole living in secret, far away from the next big town, being chased by the Ministry, I think he was worried that we wouldn't manage to raise our children normally.

"I know what you're thinking," I said. He looked up at me, directly in eyes. "Don't worry, we will find way to make this life work," I assured him, placing my hands on his.

"I know, I know. You know what, I'll try looking for a way to repair the car. You go rest a bit, you look exhausted," he said, standing up and walking away.

Realizing that he was right, I made Regulus a small bed in the basket, and then went to sleep for myself. I really was exhausted. It must have been because of the baby. As soon as I had lain down and made myself comfortable, I fell asleep.

Sirius's Pov:

I went to the shack the car was in and sat down. The events of last night were really getting to me. Seeing your best friends dead in front of you gives you a real shock. I wondered how Harry was doing by his aunt. Poor kid. He would never know how great his parents were. I was still shocked how somebody could be so heartless and rip such a perfect family apart. Speaking of family, I also was really worried about mine. Cassiopeija was expecting a child and we already had Regulus to take care off. I didn't know how to handle all of this. What if the Ministry found us? What would happen to Cassiopeija and my kids?

Shaking off these negative thoughts, I decided to look if the previous owners of this house had left any tools to repair the car. I couldn't allow pessimistic thoughts to cloud my mind and drag me down; I had a family to protect. Luckily I found some, a whole box of them, which made me wonder why the owners had abandoned this house and left so many of their things. Deciding that it wasn't really important right now, I decided to start fixing the car.

It was half an hour before I gave up. Maybe Cassiopeija was right. Maybe we should get help from the villagers. There would be someone there who could help us for sure. Since working on the car was no use right now, I decided to go make dinner with the things Cassiopeija had bought. With them, and with my middle-class cooking skills, I managed to create a delicious meal. Just as I was setting the table to eat Cassiopeija was coming downstairs with Regulus in her arms. She must have smelled the food from upstairs.

"Hey, sweetie," I greeted her. "Hungry?"

"Oh, yes. I'm starving," she replied. "So, any progress in repairing the car?" she continued with a full mouth.

"Well... I have to admit... I think we should search for help in the village," I muttered.

In the next few months our new house was full of Muggles helping us getting the house comfortable. They didn't ask many questions and were satisfied when we told them that we moved here for peacefulness. They didn't need to know that we were on a flight from the Ministry of Magic. Not that they would know what that was, anyway.

The months flew by quickly, and thanks to the help of the villagers, our house was becoming really comfortable and cozy. It looked like the home of a real family now. Cassiopeija and I also began to make friends with the villagers. They weren't as great as James and Lily, but at least we had friends to talk to, which was better than sitting home alone all the time.

Cassiopeija's stomach was also growing over the months. Our new baby was making great progress; he or she would probably be born in December. I was so excited for it. My wife and I decided to make the gender of our baby a surprise.

Then, finally, on the 24th of December, our baby was born. Cassiopeija began to go into labor around midday. I immediately called a doctor from the village. When she came, the first thing she did was throw me out of the room. She said I was causing too much stress for my wife. So I waited and waited. I never was really a patient guy, so it seemed hours to me until the doctor came out and informed that my wife had given birth to a healthy little baby girl.

When I entered the room the doctor left to give us some privacy. Cassiopeija was on the bed holding small bundle in her arms. "Hey, Cass! How are you feeling?" I whispered.

"A little bit exhausted, but other than that I feel fine," she whispered back. Slowly I went to the bed and sat down. "Here… meet our new daughter," Cassiopeija said, handing me the small bundle.

Our daughter was so cute, with a few flocks of fluffy black hair and tiny little fingers. Her small face, although it was still a little chubby now, would take the form of that of her mother in the future.

"Have you thought of a name yet?" I said softly.

"Yes, I have. I thought about... Aries."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was everything for the second chapter.
> 
> New Character(s):
> 
> Aries Black is the daughter of Sirius and Cassiopeija Black. She is currently a newborn. Like her mother, she has black hair and green eyes.
> 
> Did you know that Sirius's star name means 'Dogstar', which is funny because is part of the star constellation dog?


	3. Five years later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So here is the next chapter of "A Different Life"; there will be a small time skip of five years in this chapter.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters. I only own my OC's Cassiopeija, Regulus Leonis and Aries Black.

Sirius's Pov:

I was roughly awaken by loud screaming and shouting from downstairs. "Reg, give it back, that's mine!"

"Try to get it, baby!"

"Reg, you're so mean, I'll tell Mum and Dad you stole my toy!"

"No, you won't!"

"Yes I will, now give me back my toy or I'll shout for Mum and Dad."

It was 7 a.m. in the morning of the 26th December, and I was still tired from celebrating Aries's fifth birthday the day before yesterday, and celebrating Christmas yesterday. Next to me, Cassiopeija groaned, "Are the kids fighting again?"

I nodded silently and said, "Sounds like it." It had been five years since we escaped from the Ministry. Aries and Regulus were growing really fast. They were such cute children, well, most of the time. There were times like today where both of them were fighting and screaming so loud you could hear it throughout the whole house.

"Can you go separate them?" asked Cassiopeija. "It's your turn."

I sighed and stood up. This was going to be a hard day; I already knew that. When I arrived downstairs, I saw Regulus holding up a small brown teddy bear over his head. Aries, who was nearly one and a half heads smaller than Regulus, was jumping to reach the teddy bear, which her brother had evidently stolen from her.

"Reg, you are so mean!" she shouted again. Then she noticed me standing at the end of the stairs and cried out, "Daddy, Regulus has stolen my toy!", pointing at her brother.

"She was annoying me with it! She wouldn't stop hitting me with it!" Regulus defended himself.

"I only did that because you laughed at me because I was playing tea party with him and my doll!" she countered angrily.

I walked over to our couch, sat down, and motioned for my children to come and join me. Regulus, still holding Aries's toy, sat down to my left and Aries sat down to my right.

"Listen, kids. You two are siblings, and I know it's normal for siblings to fight, but you also need to stick together. There will come a time in your life where me and your mum won't be there all the time; there will only be you two, and then you will need to stick together. Do you understand?" I explained.

Aries tilted her head and asked, "What do you mean, Daddy? Why will there be a time in our lives where you and Mummy won't be there all the time?"

"You will understand what I mean when you are ready. Now how about you two make up to each other while I make some breakfast? Does that sound good?"

Both children nodded enthusiastically and began to apologize to each other. Then they both ran off into a corner of the living room and began to play with each other like they hadn't just a small fight. I chuckled. Sometimes these kids were very strange. One minute they were fighting, and the next they were getting along perfectly well, like nothing had ever happened. I sighed, thinking of my relationship with my brother. Contrary to what everyone believed, my brother and I got along quite well before I got to Hogwarts.

A few minutes after I started preparing breakfast, Cassiopeija came down the stairs, yawning and saying, "Is breakfast ready?"

"In a few minutes, Cass!" I called from the kitchen.

I could hear enthusiastic and happy shouts of "Morning, Mummy!" from outside the kitchen.

Cassiopeija came into the kitchen with our two kids strolling along behind her. Cass, Regulus, and Aries each sat down on our ebony coloured chairs. I smiled slightly as I saw Aries sitting her teddy bear on the chair next to her. When she saw me look, she declared, "Teddy wants to have breakfast, too!"

"Well then, let's see what we have for your teddy, huh?" I said, and began serving the food I had prepared.

For the kids I had made some boiled eggs and some toast with cheese for Aries and ham for Regulus, and orange juice and hot chocolate for both kids. My wife and I each ate two slices of bread with butter and jam and drank some coffee. Before Aries's teddy, I sat down a plate with some biscuits. Aries ate her own food and fed her teddy with the biscuits alternately.

When we were finished with breakfast, Cassiopeija and I decided to take the children for a walk. We decided to go to the village; we needed some food, anyway. The children were running before us in their snowsuits, making snow angels and throwing small snowballs at each other.

After a while of walking silently next to Cassiopeija, I decided to talk with her about a theme that was bothering me for some weeks now.

"Hey, Cass. You know I've been thinking, maybe we should tell the kids that they're wizards. They should know what they are, what powers they have. When I solved their fight this morning, I told them that they would need to stick together, because there will come a time where we two won't be there for them forever. I said I would tell them what I meant when they were older, but don't you think they are old enough now? Aries is five and Regulus is six. They are old enough. My brother and I were the same ages when our parents told us, that what went on around the house was magic," I told her.

Cassiopeija sent me a strange look I couldn't identify. "Sirius, no. Regulus just got into school. What if he brags around in school that he's a wizard? We would get busted, and then we would have to run away again. And Aries just turned five two days ago. She won't understand it. She's still too young for it. We have both decided to not tell them about magic until they get their Hogwarts letters," she replied.

"For what am I too young?" suddenly pipped up the voice of our daughter. I hadn't realized that she and her brother were walking now right next to us. "Is there something that you aren't telling us?" she asked, tilting her head curiously.

"It's nothing, sweetie, Daddy and I were just talking about some adult stuff. You won't understand that. Now go and play in the snow with your brother." said Cassiopeija to our daughter, kneeling down at her eye level.

Aries considered a bit about what to do before she shouted, "Come on, Reg, let's continue our snowball fight!" and then ran off with her brother. Cass and I continued to walk in silence after this. We only broke our silence when we arrived to the village and went into a store. Ms. Morin greeted us friendlily like she always did when we came to her shop. While she and Cass were trading out news about what had happened since they last saw each other, I went and searched for everything we would need in the next days together with Regulus and Aries.

After a while, we got everything we needed - and a few "unneeded" sweets - and we left the shop. Since we had a lot of time on our hands, we went for a walk through the village. When we passed the big playground in the village, a few friends of Aries and Regulus came up to us and asked if those two could stay and play with them.

Cass and I agreed and sat down near the other parents to watch Regulus and Aries play with their friends. It was cute watching all those little kids play together in the snow. Cass and I watched the kids playing for a while in silence, before she whispered to me, "Maybe you're right, Sirius. Maybe we should tell them, before an accident with their magic happens. They should know what they are and how to control their powers."

"Why did you suddenly change your mind?" I asked her with curiosity. "You were against it not so long ago."

"The thing is, Sirius, I've heard of young wizards who didn't know of their powers hurt others accidently with it. It just came to my mind right now. I don't want this to happen to our kids," explained Cassiopeija.

I put my arm around her and assured her, "Don't worry, Cass, that won't happen to our children. We will tell them about their magic tonight and then help them control it, okay?"

Cassiopeija nodded and leaned her head against mine, sighed and mumbled something about how cute the children are. We stayed like that until it was time for us to go home. On our way back home, Regulus and Aries told us what they were exactly playing with their friends, something about building castles out of snow with two opposing teams and then trying to conquer the castle of the other team. I never heard of that game, it must be one the Muggle children had invented, but it sounded like a lot of fun.

When we finally arrived home, we all cuddled together on the couch with hot chocolates in our hands. It was the middle of afternoon; outside, small snowflakes drifted down slowly from the sky and past our window. In our small fireplace burned a fire, giving us comfortable warmth. We sat for a while like this, just enjoying our hot chocolates and the warm fire after the cold from outside before.

Suddenly, Cassiopeija began to talk. "Kids, there is something we need to tell you..." And then we both began to tell them about Hogwarts, their magical powers and the magical world. Our children were listening carefully to every word we were saying. When we ended, they looked at us with big eyes and asked us if that was what we'd always used around the house, unlike their friends; such as the dishes cleaning themselves, or the onions chopping themselves up. We confirmed it.

Regulus and Aries were so excited because of all this that they asked us the next few days nearly all the time to show them some of the more complicated spells. And so the days passed, and the 31st of December arrived. Tomorrow we would be starting another year, hopefully one that was as perfect as this one.

Both our kids were running around in the house, full of excitement. It was the only day in the whole year where they were allowed to stay up until midnight, and even a bit later.

While Regulus helped me prepare the rockets for tonight, Aries helped her mother prepare the food for our dinner this evening in the kitchen.

Soon the evening came; we had a great dinner, with grilled sausages and meat and molten cheese and bread and salad and lots of different vegetables. After dinner we played games - nearly all of them were won by Aries or Regulus - until shortly before midnight, because then we went outside to ignite our fireworks.

As the rockets shot into the sky, painting colours of green, blue, red and lots more, we all wished each other a happy new year, full of new chances and opportunities. A new year in our new life.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I claim to own Harry Potter or any of it's characters.

Chapter 4:

Cassiopeija's Pov:

I busy cleaning our house for Regulus birthday party tomorrow . I couldn't belive it, my little boy was going to be seven years old soon! I felt excited about it and worried at the same time. Excited because, he was going to be one year older and would be showing his wizarding skills soon and worried because of this skills. What if he couldn't control them? There were cases with wizards and witches who couldn't control their magic and hurt other people with it accidently.

Upon hearing the tripple of two pairs of small feet I turned around and saw Aries and her muggle friend from the kindergarden running towards me.

"Mummy can we have some sweets, please?" they asked me making puppy dog eyes. I looked at the clock, it was half past six, Sirius would soon come back from shopping and then he would cook dinner for us. "No, your dad is going to cook dinner and if you two eat sweets now you won't be hungry," I said , " Now how about you two go upstairs and prepare anything for your sleepover, you can also put your pyjamas on. I will join you in one minute and help you cover the blankets. Okay?" I added looking at both of them.

Both girls nodded and walked upstairs to Aries bedroom. Sirius and I allowed her - after days of asking and begging - to let a friend sleep here for tonight. We decided that she was finally old enough to do so. Besides, nothing bad could happen. Being finished with cleaning everything, I walked upstairs to help the girls with covering the matress and blanket. Aries and her friend Carina were sitting on the bed, laughing and playing with their toy teddy and toy cat.

After finishing with covering the blankets, I went downstairs to see Sirius preparing our food for dinner. I greeted him and went to help him and after half an hour we were finished. While Sirius was decking the table I called for the kids: "Regulus, Aries, Carina! Come down, dinner's ready!"

Aries and Carina came rushing down the stairs imediately, but Regulus seemed to take his time.

"Regulus, come down here. Your dad and I made noodle soup, your favourite!" I shouted again.

I heard slow footsteps from upstairs, then Regulus appeared. He didn't look too happy, he had a rather stressed and tired look on his face. However on my question if something is wrong he just answered that he was tired from helping his dad with several duties that day.

Dinner went by quickly and the three kids went to sleep, while Sirius and me sat down together on our couch. We sat there for a while before he asked me: "Hey Cass is something troubeling you?"

"It's nothing...just...don't you think that Regulus behaved a little strange today at dinner?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" he questioned

"I mean he looked so tired and exhausted and I'm sure it's not just from helping you the entire day." I explained.

"Maybe he is developing his wizarding skills. It can be very exhausting for some young wizards to do so. Don't worry, it happened with me too. It will be over in a few days." he told me.

"Okay, when you say so, but I'm still worried about Regulus being tired and exhausted like this. Hopefully nothing happens with his powers," I said, yawning. I was really tired from cleaning the house and watching the girls the whole afternoon.

I must have fallen asleep on the couch, because when I woke up in the morning I was still laying on it with a blanket draped over me and a pillow laying underneath my head. Stretching my arms I went over to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. It looked like Sirius and the children were still asleep, since there was no sound to be heard from upstairs. I began cooking some boiled eggs and making toast for everyone. When the smell of cooked milk for the cocoa moved through the room, I heard footsteps coming from upstairs. When I looked around I saw Aries and Carina coming down the stairs and walking into the kitchen.

"Good morning girls. Did you sleep well?" I asked.

Both of them nodded and Aries asked: "Is breakfast finished?"

"In a few minutes everything is ready, but you can already sit down." I replied as I sat some jam, honey and butter down on the desk in front of the girls.

When the milk was ready I put it in a few cups and mixed it with the cocoa powder and set it down before the girls. I sat down too and we all began eating our breakfast. After a while Regulus and Sirius joined us.

The girls greeted Regulus with happy shouts of 'Happy Birthday'.

After breakfast was over it was time to decorate the house for the Birthday party. The two girls helped me with baking hte cake, while Regulus and his dad decorated the living room. 'This is going to be a great party,' I thought. I didn't know at that time that this party would end in a small disaster.

A few hours later everything was ready. Carina's older brother Charlie arrived first. He was Regulus best friend. Then row after row all of Regulus' friends came. He had invited four of his best friends.

All the boys and the two girls had much fun, playing games and eating food.

It was already late when we were playing hit the pinjata. We hung up a owl shaped pinjata, blindfolded Regulus and let him hit the pinjata. After a while he got a little frustrated and hit with the stick very hard in the direction where he belived the pinjata to be and somehow it exploded. The other kids screamed in shock and jumped back a little bit. Sweets were strewn all over the floor. Regulus put down the blindfold and looked around. What followed was an awkward silence in which no one wanted to talk or ask what that just was.

"What do you kids say get into the kitchen and eat pizza, huh? It should be ready by now, " I sayed to break this silence.

All the kids went into our kitchen and sat down, while I put the pizza out of the hot oven and set it down infront of the kids with a tube of ketchup. Everything went fine until Alex, one of Regulus friends, and Regulus gripped the ketchup bottle at the same time and it exploded. Ketchup splattered all over the table and the faces and shirts of the children.

"W..what was that?" asked one kid.

"I don't know, but it's defintely something creepy, it happened with the pinata before too," replied another.

"Whatever it is it's not normal. Something is really wrong here." -"Yeah what's happening here, Regulus?" asked Alex

I could clearly see that Regulus was feeling a little bit uncomfortable. He himself didn't really know what was going on. But I knew. It was his magic, coming out in small pushes. 'What should I say? I need to convince them that this was supposed to be that way.' I thought. Suddenly an idea rushed to my mind.

"Hey kids I know you're all confused on what happened here, but the truth is: Neither Regulus nor anyone else who lifes here knows what this was. However it could be the ghost from the forest that comes here, whenever there is a party or some other feast to celebrate. He always comes here to ruin partys and feasts and the only way to stop him is to capture him. Now, do you want to help me capture him?" I asked.

Imediately all the kids were in and pumped up for the "ghost hunt", not knowing that the ghost didn't even excist. I explained to them how they could catch the ghost let them play a while with nets normally used for collecting butterflies and shells. The kids played until their parents came to pick them up. Everyone thanked us for the invitation and the food and then left.

Soon after everyone was gone, Regulus asked me what had happened today. I called Sirius and together we sat down on the couch to explain to him that what he saw today were pushes of magic coming out uncontrolled within him. To his question if this was dangerous we answered with no. We wouldn't want him to worry or fall into fear of hurting someone with these uncontrolled magic pushes.

After the talk with Regulus I cleaned up with the help of Sirius. He was upstairs reading something during the birthday party. He said big celebrations weren't really his case, which I found strange. Was something wrong with him? Maybe he just didn't feel really well today and stayed away because of that. Whatever it was I was sure it was nothing too bad. Finishing the cleaning I went upstairs to go to bed.

Sirius Pov:

As soon as this Charlie kid arrived, I went upstairs to Cass' and my shared bedroom. I wanted to do something that I already planned to do a few weeks ago and now was the perfect time for it. I had to write a letter to Albus Dumbledore to make sue my children were registered in the school. Of course it had to be an anonymus letter so he wouldn't know my identity. In the letter I simply explained that the last name of the two children Regulus Leonis and Aries Black is actually Strauß instead of Black. I explained that I wished that my children would be called that way instead of Black. Just to be save in case someone would find out they were my children and force them to tell were I was hiding.

During the wait for a reply I waited and read a book I bought myself in the village's book shop. These muggle books weren't as good as the ones written by wizards or witches, but I still enjoyed reading them. Some were even a lot of fun to read.

The answer to my letter came quicker than I thought. In the reply it said that it was okay and that Regulus and Aries would be called Strauß instead of Black. I was relieved to hear that. Now no one could come to the idea that those two were my children. Sure Regulus looked alot like me, but most of my teacher had probably forgotten my face until now, so this wouldn't be much of a problem. And Aries had the same features as her mother and almost no body knew Cassiopeija, so there was no problem of being recognized as my child for her.

I sat down again and continued reading my book. I was so focused on the story, that I didn't notice how late it got. Only when Cassiopeija called me to come downstairs to help her with something regarding Regulus, I realized that the party must've been over and everyone had gone home.

When I came downstairs Cass explained everything that happened today at the party. I wasn't really shocked considering something similar had happened when I was in Regulus' age.

My wife and me sat down on the couch together with Regulus and explained to him that these things that happened today on hthe party were pushes of magic and that every young witch and wizard had to go through this.

After talking with Regulus and after helping my wife with the cleaning, I stayed in our living room and relaxed on the couch a little bit while Cass went upstairs to go to bed. She was really tired from dealing with seven kids today. I felt a little bit guilty for letting her alone like this, but what I had done was necassary.

Suddenly I felt a tuck at my hand. It was Aries in her pink bunny pyjamas.

"Hey, what are you still doing up Aries? It's eiht o'clock already. Kids your age should be in bed by now." I said to her leaning a little forward to meet her eye level.

"I didn't have a goodnight story yet. Mummy is too tired to read one and Regulus said he doesn't want to read me one," she mumbled tiredly.

"So you want me to read you one?", I asked to which she nodded, "well done, then go upstairs and into your bed, I'll soon join you after I've found a story for you."

I thought a little while about which story I was going to read to her, then suddenly I knew it. In one of the bookshelves in our in our living room there was a book that I treasured very much. It was one of the few things that I kept from my childhood. Carefully I pulled out an old example of 'The tales of Beedle the Bard'. I was sure Aries would love the stories in there.

Of course the story that I read her was 'The tale of the three brothers', my absolute favourite in the book and by the excitedment Aries was giving the story I could tell that she loved it too. When I ended the story she fell asleep with a happy smile on her face. I gave her a quick kiss on the forehead, then I went to check on Regulus to see if he was sleeping and finally I went to bed too.


	5. Learning to control the magic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: Again I don't own Harry Potter nor do I claim to do so. The only thing that I own is the idea for this story and my OCs.

Regulus's POV

I woke up to the sun shining into my room. I really loved this feeling of the sun waking me. Standing up from my, bed I walked over to my window and opened it to let in some fresh air. I took in a deep breath of it and closed my eyes, replaying yesterday's events. Mum and Dad had told me what had happened. I couldn't really believe it—my magic was coming. I was going to be a wizard, a real wizard, just like my mum and dad. Soon, I would be able to learn how to do the cool stuff my parents told me and Aries about.

Speaking of my sister, I wondered if she was already awake. I knew it was very early in the morning, but Aries wasn't someone who would sleep long. I opened the door to my room quietly and sneaked over to Aries's room. It didn't take very long, since our rooms are almost next to each other. Trying to make as least noise as possible, I opened the door to look inside. As expected, Aries was alredy awake.

"Oh, hey, Reg!" she greeted me happily upon noticing me looking through the door.

"Morning, sis!" I greeted back, walking into the room and closing the door. "What are you doing?" I asked and sat next to her on the bed.

Aries moved a little bit so I could sit comfortably. Then, she explained, "I'm playing with Teddy and my stuffed dog. They are going on an adventure together."

"Sounds great. Where are they going?" I inquired, taking interest in what the kid was playing.

"I don't know," shrugged Aries.

"Well, how about... they are wizards and have to fight against an evil, powerful wizard who wants to take over the world?" I suggested.

"You mean wizards like you and me? Let's do this!" she cried out enthusiastically.

We played our game for I don't know how long, but we were so focused on it that we didn't even see Mum and Dad standing in the doorway, watching us play with each other.

When we finally noticed them, Mum chuckled and asked us what we were exactly playing. After we had explained it, I saw dad frown slightly. I think mum frowned, too, a little bit, but it was barely noticeable on her face.

"Well, then, if you're finished playing, let's get some breakfast. Okay?" suggested Dad, his face now back to his normal calm smile.

Was I just imagining the frown on his face?

I shook my head, sure was just my imagination. He couldn't have looked unhappy when Aries and I were playing so happily together. My mum prepared the breakfast with dad helping her, while Aries and I waited in the living room.

"Hey, Reg, was that what happened yesterday at your party—magic?" asked Aries suddenly.

I was puzzled at first. "What?!"

"I asked if the weird thing that happened to you yesterday at the party was magic." she repeated, slightly annoyed by how less I was listening to her.

"Yes, yes it was," I said, remembering how sad and panicked I felt with my outbursts of magic.

"That's awesome. Can you show me, can you show me?" she asked, overexcited.

"No. And how is that awesome? I could have hurt someone. Besides, I don't even know how to control it," I replied.

"But you will learn how to do it."

"Starting today," said the voice of my dad.

We both looked up to see our parents standing in front of us.

"I'm gonna learn magic?" I asked, getting excited about it.

"Sure. We can start right away," said dad.

I stood up and wanted to follow him outside in our garden, but Mum stopped us, saying, "Before you two go doing anything, you will eat some breakfast. I did not prepare it for nothing."

After breakfast, Dad took me outside. He began to explain certain things about magic, how to use it, what categories there were. He also told me many things about the magical world in particular. Our lesson lasted until midday and continued afterwards a few hours. This went on for a two months. Every day, we would cover one spell, potion, or magical animal. Until one day I had enough. It was the 30th of September. Nearly two months after my birthday.

"Dad, when are you gonna teach me real powerful magic?" I asked.

"What do you mean? I'm already teaching you it," he replied, smiling down at me. "You're not even at Hogwarts yet."

"I mean using magic, powerful magic. Not just telling me about it," I replied.

"Mhhhmmm. So you want to learn something powerful and how to use it?" He got a thinking look on his face, then it light up with a glint of excitement. "Well, I think I might just have the perfect thing for you."

I wondered what this perfect thing would be. Curiously, I followed Dad outside. He turned around and looked at me with his typical grin. "Okay, I'm going to show you now a, for me, really cool and useful sort of magic, but you have to promise me to not tell your mum that I showed it to you."

I nodded in reply. Dad showed a look of concentration on his face, and suddenly, a huge, black dog was standing in front of me.

"Wow, that's awesome! How did you do that?" I asked, impressed by Dad's little show.

"It's called Transfiguration. People who can turn into animals are called Animagi. It's really hard to learn how to do it, but you're very clever—like me—" Dad smiled smugly "—so you should be able to figure it out." Then he turned back into a human.

The next few months up to Aries birthday dad taught me how to turn into an Animagus, and not only that. Step after step, he taught me how to use Expelliarmus, Stupefy, and some other small spells with his wand. When the day of Aries's birthday arrived, I had gotten far enough through my Animagus training that I could make myself have a small black nose if I wanted. I was really excited—Dad said that that was really good for only a few short months.

"Hey, Dad, do you think Aries will show some magic too today?" I asked.

"Maybe. Magic begins to show itself by young wizards around the age of six to eight," Dad replied.

"If she does, can I teach her some of the awesome stuff you taught me?" I asked, excited.

"Well, I think you're still too young to teach it to her, but I'm sure you could help me," he told me with a smile.

I was very excited. I really hoped Aries would get her magic soon. Then I would finally have a training partner. My hopes turned out to be right; Aries showed signs of magic—not as strong as with mine, but it was there. And a few weeks after her birthday, at the beginning of February, dad started to train her, too.

Aries POV

I couldn't believe it. A few weeks ago, on may sixth birthday exactly, I finally showed that I have magical powers. Now, I can start training and controlling them together with dad, just like Regulus. On the morning of my first lesson, I woke up really early—I was just too excited to sleep. Finally, after what seemed like endless hours for me, Dad's lesson began.

I listened carefully to everything he said, trying to get as much information into my head as possible. Later at night, I was really exhausted.

"Hey, Reg, are dad's lessons always so exhausting like today?" I asked, lying next to my brother in his bedroom while waiting for our dad to read us a goodnight story.

"Yeah, they are, but he knows a lot of cool stuff," he told me.

"Really? Like what, for example?" I questioned curiously.

"Well... I know one really super awesome thing... but you have to promise me to not tell Mum, okay?" he asked me, getting up.

I nodded, and as soon as he had my confirmation that I wouldn't tell Mum he concentrated hard, and after a few moments, instead of the short nose on my brother's face was a long, red-and-brown and furry snout with a black nose at the tip. My mouth was hanging wide open as Regulus's nose shrank back to normal.

"So, what do you say? Pretty cool, huh?" he asked with a small smirk.

"That was awesome! When can I learn it too? Do you think dad will even want to teach me? Do you think I can even do this—what if I fail?" I began to blubber.

"Don't worry. I think you will be able to do it with a few lessons of learning," came a voice from the door.

There stood Dad with our usual storybook in hand. He came over, sat down and began to read us some stories out of the book until we fell asleep. I could only feel how he laid both of us down gently (luckily, Reg's bed was big enough for two people), before I drifted into a peaceful slumber, dreaming of the magical worlds my parents were always telling me of.

Sirius POV

After the kids had fallen asleep, I finally went to bed myself. Teaching one child was exhausting, but two was extremely hard and tiring. I saw that Cassiopeija was lying on the bed, reading one of those strange Muggle books that you could buy in one of the local shops. Upon me entering the room, she raised her head and I could clearly see that something was worrying her.

"Are the kids in bed?" she asked.

"Yeah. They just fell asleep. Is something wrong? You look worried," I said, concerned, laying down next to her on the bed. Hopefully she wasn't getting sick or something else was wrong.

She took a deep breath then she said, "Sirius, we need to talk about something..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Cliffhanger! So I hope you liked this chapter and stay excited for the next one. If you liked it, feel free to leave a review, favourite, or follow. Everyone to do so will get some virtual cookies and hugs. ; )

**Author's Note:**

> Characters:
> 
> Cassiopeija Black (nee Strauß):
> 
> She is the wife of Sirius Black and the mother of Regulus Black and a currently unborn child. She is a really smart witch who studied wizardry and witchcraft at a wizarding school in Austria. Like her husband, she is an Animagus. Her Animagus form is an eagle with brown feathers and a white head. She has long, straight black hair and green light green eyes. She also is around the same age as Sirius.
> 
> Regulus Leonis Black:
> 
> His first name comes from Sirius late brother, Regulus Arcturus Black, and his middle name comes the constellation in which the star with his first name is situated in. Currently, he is one year and three months old. He has the same hair colour as his father and also the same eye colour.
> 
> A/N: This is it hope you liked the first chapter of 'A Different Life'
> 
> Did you know that nearly all of the family members of the Blacks are named after stars and constellations?


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